Greg Ciciola: Mahopac alum sleeps at rink

Dec. 20, 2005

Written by

JOE LOMBARDI

THE JOURNAL NEWS

To say Greg Ciciola eats, breathes and sleeps hockey would not be an exaggeration.

Just consider not only how the Yorktown Heights resident spends a typical day, but where he spends it.

Ciciola — the 2004-05 Journal News Westchester-Putnam player of the year who led Mahopac to its first appearance in the state playoffs last season — plays for the Walpole, Mass., team in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League and resides inside the team's facility, Iorio Arena.

"It's like the same as a college dorm, but at the rink," said Ciciola, who at 18 is one of the youngest members of the Walpole Express, which includes players up to age 21. "We also have a gym right downstairs, and there's a players' lounge and kitchen where we can cook."

Not bad for $300 a month rent.

You may think Ciciola never leaves the rink. But he still manages to find time to take classes at Massachusetts Bay Community College.

Ciciola arrived in Walpole, about 25 miles south of Boston, the last week in August, and will stay through the playoffs, which start in mid-March.

His team usually plays twice on weekends after practicing every day during the week.

Ciciola is back in action, but was sidelined in September and October after suffering a sprained MCL in practice following the team's second game. In 11 games, he has two goals and four assists.

"It's much faster than high school and a lot more physical," he said. "The skill level in general is higher. You have to make quick decisions. You don't have any time to carry the puck. It has to be on your stick and off your stick real quick. Everyone is much smarter, and all the kids are a lot stronger because a lot of kids are older."

Ciciola's team includes players from 12 states, including Alaska.

Mahopac coach Steve Tuite thinks spending a season in the AJHL can only help Ciciola, a center, improve his game.

"He learned a lot with us, but up there, he's learning more," Tuite said. "He's learning he can't get away with some things he did at the high school level."

Tuite said that even before Ciciola played his first AJHL game, he was one of the better players he'd seen during a career that includes four years at Mahopac and six years as an assistant at Army.

"He is a very smart player and very talented," Tuite said. "His biggest thing now is to be a complete player, more so on the defensive end than the offensive end. He has great vision on the offensive end."

Ciciola hopes his season in the AJHL helps him land at a strong four-year college program next year.

"A select few go to four-year D-I schools," Ciciola said. "The league sends a lot of kids to D-III schools. It also sends kids out to the Midwest in the USHL."

He would consider putting off college another year if he has an opportunity to play in the USHL.

"It's been around for a long time," Ciciola said. "It's the best junior league you can play in."

For now, he's enjoying his time with the Express.

And despite his convenient living arrangements, getting to all his team's games isn't quite so easy.

"We had a road trip to Washington, D.C.," he said. "It took 12 hours to get back. We hit all this traffic."